Late objection indefinitely delays release of sect kids

Last-minute objection indefinitely delays release of sect children

Published 5:30 am, Thursday, May 29, 2008

SAN ANGELO — Last-minute objections Friday to provisions giving the state 24-hour access to a polygamist sect's ranch indefinitely sidelined the much-anticipated return of the group's children to their parents after a nearly two-month separation.

State District Judge Barbara Walther was about to approve an amended agreement late Friday afternoon that would have, with few exceptions, eventually returned all of the more than 460 children to the Yearning For Zion Ranch, which was raided in early April over allegations of physical and sexual abuse.

Walther had tweaked the plan to allow any state official connected to the investiga- tion access to the children"at any and all times" and to require any child moving more than 60 miles from the ranch to provide Texas Child Protective Services 48 hours notice.

But just as Walther was set to approve it, Julie Balovich, an attorney with Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, objected — by telephone — to the provisions added by the judge. Balovich insisted the judge could only cancel her original April ruling ordering the children removed from the ranch, per Thursday's decision by the Texas Supreme Court.

Balovich insisted a judge would have to have a separate hearing on the provisions before placing them in the agreement.

Walther ordered a recess to consider the matter.

Three versions of that agreement had been examined by the court and attorneys for both the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and members' children. In the first version, CPS would have had access to the ranch 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and FLDS members were advised to cooperate with the investigation. The original agreement had a time limit and would expire by the end of summer.

Three versions of pact

By the time the third version was introduced, the language was made stronger and in CPS' favor. It would be in place indefinitely so that state officials connected with the ongoing child abuse investigation "SHALL be allowed access to said property at any and all times."

When Walther returned to the bench Friday, she told attorneys she would sign the first version of the agreement as long as it had the signature of 43 FLDS mothers who had sued the state to get their children back.

"If you provide me with an order signed by all of your clients, I will sign it," she said before abruptly leaving the bench, throwing the courtroom into turmoil.

"Does that mean our kids won't be released?" asked one attorney who attended the hearing by telephone through a conference call. Another one asked: "Can someone repeat what the judge just said?"

Walther did not say when she would return or when the next hearing would take place, leaving puzzled attorneys in her wake.

"Judge Walther asked that we continue to finalize this plan together to ensure the prompt and orderly return of the children," CPS spokesman Patrick Crimmins said in a statement.

Disappointed FLDS member Willie Jessop, said, "There was an opportunity for relief, and it was not granted."

Attorneys for children and mothers were not happy.

"Our phones will be ringing off the hook" with calls from parents wanting to know when they can pick up their children, said Andrea Sloan, an attorney for several mothers.

Laura Shockley, a lawyer for several sect children, said few judges in her experience required signatures from an attorney's clients. "Attorneys normally sign (agreements) on their own," she said.

Hard to get it signed

Shockley said attorneys in this case would have a difficult time gathering signatures from more than 40 mothers scattered around the state. She vowed to return to the 3rd
Court of Appeals
first thing Monday seeking to have Walther's original order seizing the children dismissed.

In its order last week, the appeals court said it would allow Walther to rescind her original order, or it would do it for her.

Minutes before the objection that put the agreement in limbo, Walther told attorneys she would like to see the children returned, quickly.

"I think the children should be returned as soon as possible," Walther said, a stunning reversal to her own decision six weeks ago that the FLDS children be removed from the ranch after CPS officials claimed underaged girls were being forced into "spiritual marriages" with adult men.

Walther's hearing came one day after the Texas Supreme Court sided with the 3rd Court of Appeals' finding that CPS failed to prove the children were in such danger of abuse at the ranch that removal was the only option.

FLDS members have said no one is forced into these "spiritual marriages," but they do acknowledge that girls under the age of 18 are involved.

CPS officials have claimed that all girls, even very young children and newborns, are at risk of sexual abuse because of sect members' belief that any girl is eligible to marry once she enters puberty. CPS officials have said the boys are at risk of abuse because they are being raised to become sexual predators. Both arguments have been criticized by lawyers for the children as being overreaching and ludicrous.

After the raid, DNA samples were taken from all of the children and parents to help the agency match children with the right parents.

On Thursday, a DNA sample was taken from FLDS leader Warren Jeffs, convicted in Utah last year on two counts of being an accomplice to rape for forcing young girls to marry adults. Jerry Strickland, a spokesman for the Texas Attorney General's Office, said the samples were taken Thursday at an Arizona jail where Jeffs awaits trial on abuse charges.

A search warrant for the DNA samples alleges that Jeffs had "spiritual marriages" with four girls, ages 12 to 15.